Door-mounted electric space heater



Patented Jan. 3, 195@ DOOR-MOUNTED ELECTRICl SPACE HEATER-r Nina L. Foster, Glendale, Calif., `assigner to The Calpat Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application February 5, 1945, Serial No. 576,237A

(Cl. 21S-34) 2 Claims. 1

My invention relates to an electric heater, and, since it finds particular utility in embodiments adapted yfor use as vertical wall heaters in bathrooms or `other rooms of dwellings, such embodimentsy iare hereinafter described, it being understood that my invention is not limited to such forms or uses.

The use of electric wall heaters, and particularly those of substantial vertical dimensions in. rooms, such as bathrooms., is limited by the inconvenience or impossibility of installing such heaters in the walls either during or after the completion of construction of the dwelling because of lack of suiiicient wall space, the necessity ofA cutting tile and studs or rearranging pipes and the necessity of :providing proper insulation. It is an object of my invention to avoid these difculties and to facilitate the installation of an electric heater lby combining the electric heater with la. door.

In many rooms, if an electric heater carried byr the door is energized when the door i-s open, therel is great danger of damage by excessive heat or re to the walls, fixtures, or furnishings of theA room. It is another object of my invention to provide an electric door heater having circuit control means so `designed that the heater may be energized only when the door is in closed or substantially closed position. It is desirable that the circuit control means be of such character that it cannot be contacted by the human bodyv in a manner to cause injury, and it is la corresponding object of my invention to provide an electric door heater having circuit means and' circuit control means such that the electric circuit cannot be accidentally closed between them by a human body or human hand.

It isfanother object of my invention to provide an electric door heater having manu-al control means, so that the electric heater may be readily energized and deenergized lwhen the automatic circuit control means is closed.

Other objects and advantages of my invention are described in the following specilic-ation, which will be more readily understood 'by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of a door bearing an electric-heater in accord-ance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view 5o taken ias indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3ds-a viewof-thatsidecfthe door opposite the side illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional View taken as indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an enlargedffragmentary sectional view takenk las indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig; 1.

Referring to the drawing, which is for illustrati-ve purposes only, the numeral II indicates ;A a door of conventional. dimensions and including upper and lower stiles I2.. and I3 and vertical rails I4 and I5 surrounding av central panel I6. The door II is connected by -suitable hingesy l1 to `a door-frame It, so thatit may be swung between -,.positions4 opening and closing the doorway or opening Iprovided by the door-frame I8.

The panel It includes upper and lower frame.

members I9fand 20, respectively, which are suitably connected to the Stiles I2 and I3, respectively, andsideframemembers '2| and 2Ia suitablyiconnected to the rails I4 1and I5, respectively. The frame members I9 to 2Iainclusive, may be formedY of wood, metal, or suitable insulating material, such .as asbestosgsheeting, or the like.

Suitably connected, as by screws 22, to the rearward sidenof theA s tiles I2 and I3 and the,

rails I4 and I5 is lan outer shell 23 which may be lformed of wood or iibrous` material but is preferably formed of metal. As is `well illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the outer shell 23 includes plane surfaced marginal portions 24 converging lout-v wardly of the doorv I I to intersection with a `plane surfaced outer wallv 25 parallel to the plane of the lStiles. I2 and- I3 and the rails Ill and I5.

suitably mounted within the outer shell 23 is an insulating shell 26 formed 'of any suitable material, such as asbestos. The insulating :shell 26 includes upper and lower walls 21 and 23 converging rearwardly of the door I I from the upper and lower frame membersv I9 and 20, respectively, to intersection with an outer wall 29 of the insulatingshell 26. The outerwall 29 is parallel to and adjacent the outer wall 25 of the outer shell 23. The insulating shell 26 includes als-o vertical side walls 30 and 3| extending from the side frame members 2l and 2 Ia to intersection with the outer wall 29. suitably secured to and covering the inner surface of the insulating shell 26 is an inner shell 32, preferably made of metal and with its inner surface Ipolished to provide a reflecting sur 56 coil of copper wire 35 surrounding a core 36 of in- 3 sulating material, the core 36 being supported at each end by brackets 31 mounted on the inner surface of the inner shell 32.

Secured to the inner surface of the frame members I 9 to 2 Ia, inclusive, is a guard in the form of a grill 38, preferably formed of metal and with openings therein of such dimensions as to prevent bodily contact with the heater elements 33 and 34 while permitting the passage of warm air therethrough. Disposed within the upper stile I2 and the rail I5 is a primary circuit means 39 which includes two conductors 48 and 4I electrically connecting the heater elements 33 and 34 through a manual control switch 42 to two movable contacts 43 and 44.

As is best illustrated in Fig. 5, the movable contacts 43 and 44 are mounted in a contact box 45 secured in a recess in the edge of the rail I5, so that the outer surface of the contact box 45 is ush with the edge of the rail I5. Each of the movable contacts 43 and 44 includes a projecting portion 46 curved so that, as the door I I is swung to closed position, the projecting portions 43 extend into an opening 4'! in a second contact box 48 mounted in the door-frame I 8 with its outer surface flush with the inner surface of such frame. Mounted in the second c-ontact box 48 are two stationary contacts 49 adapted for engagement by the projecting portions 46 of the movable contacts 43 and 44 when the door I I is swung to closed position. The stationary contacts 49 are connected by conductors 50 disposed within the door-frame I3 and the wall adjacent t0 a source of electrical current.

As is well illustrated in the drawing, the movable contacts 43 and 44 and the stationary contacts 49, which constitute an automatic circuit control means, are positioned at such an elevation as to be out of reach of children, and the stationary contacts 49 are so disposed within the second contact box 48 as to prevent the circuit from being closed between them by a human body or human fingers, thus making impossible accidental bodily injury.

Inasmuch as the doorways and doors to bathrooms and dwelling rooms are of substantially standard dimensions, it is contemplated that the manufacture of doors of the character hereinbefore described in very few different dimensions will satisfy the demand for installations in all types of rooms.

Since it is necessary in order to install the door heater of my invention only to install the second contact box 48 and the conductors 58 in the doorframe I9, it will be seen that such installation does not require the cutting of the tile or other wall surface or the rearrangement of any piping within the wall or the utilization of any area of the wall surface. Inasmuch as, even though the manual switch 42 be in position closing the circuit between the heater elements 33 and 34 and the source of current, such circuit is not closed until the door II is in closed or substantially closed position, the heater elements 33 and 34 will never be energized when the door I I is opened or partially opened, and hence the danger of damage from heat or fire to fixtures, walls, or furnishings adjacent the door in its opened or partially opened position is eliminated.

While I have illustrated and described an embodiment of my invention in which the door is movable by virtue of a hinged connection -with the door-frame and in which the electrical heater is vertically elongated, it will be understood that my invention is capable of use in connection with doors having different mountings and supporting heaters of diierent forms. Various other modifications and additions which also embody my inventive concept will occur to those skilled in the art, and my invention is therefore to be understood as not restricted to the specific embodiment hereinbefore, described but as including all of the variations which come within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. A space heating unit, comprising: a door frame having an entrance-way opening; a door pivoted within said door frame and operative to open and close said opening; a space heater mounted on said door and including an electrical heating element; an electrical circuit for said heating element; a. rst electrical leaf spring element on the door frame and connected in the circuit; and a second electrical leaf spring element carried by the door and electrically connected to the heating element, said second leaf spring element being adapted to yieldingly engage said rst leaf spring element to close the electrical circuit to the heating element to energize the same when the door is pivoted to closed position and to disengage said rst leaf spring element when the door is pivoted to open position so as to cle-energize the heating element.

2. A space heating unit, comprising: a door frame having an entrance-way opening; a door pivoted within said door frame and operative to open and close said opening; a space heater mounted on said door and including an electrical heating element; an electrical circuit for said heating element; a rst contact box carried by the door frame and provided with an opening; first flexible electrical contact element disposed within said rst contact box; a second contact box disposed in an edge of the door; and a second exible electrical contact element disposed within said second contact box and having a curved end projecting from said second contact box and concentric with the pivotal axis of the door, said second contact element being adapted to enter said opening and to yieldingly engage said rst contact element to close the electrical circuit to the heating element to energize the same when the door is pivoted to closed position and to move out of said opening to disengage said rst Contact element when the door is pivoted to open position so as to de-energize the heating element.

NINA L. FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,380,656 Lauth June 7, 1921 1,421,652 Youngquist July 4, 1922 1,660,556 Gunn Feb. 28, 1928 1,660,928 Ledig Feb. 28, 1928 1,724,585 Hicks Aug. 13, 1929 1,885,041 Baker Oct, 25, 1932 1,928,642 Bried Oct. 3, 1933 2,165,970 Jaspers July 11, 1939 2,392,692 Price Jan. 8, 1946 

